Yann Ehrlacher quickest in second practice as times drop

Münnich Motorsport’s Yann Ehrlacher emerged quickest from the second and final FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) practice session at the Slovakia Ring, with lap times starting to tumble.

Qualifying simulations were the order of the day for the majority of the field, with Ehrlacher setting a best time of 2:11.350s around the 3.6 mile circuit – a new track record for TCR machinery.

He could have been denied by a last-gasp effort from Pepe Oriola’s CUPRA, or any number of the usual suspects in a session that saw the top 15 split by less than half a second.

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Jean-Karl Vernay turned in an improved run to third in the WRT-run Audi RS 3 LMS, though team-mate Gordon Shedden still struggled in 20th.

Esteban Guerrieri took fourth in a near dead-heat with the Peugeot 308 of Aurelien Comte, with Fabrizio Giovanardi an improved sixth behind in the Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR.

His team-mate and championship newcomer, Kevin Ceccon, was less fortunate after getting crossed up and spinning out into the gravel.

First practice pace-setter Tom Coronel also hit trouble, with a near-exact repeat of his front-left puncture, once again at Turn 3 on the DHL-backed Honda Civic Type R.

Gabriele Tarquini ended the session quickest of the Hyundai i30 N contigent in eighth behind Aurelien Panis, with Nathanael Berthon and John Fillipi rounding out the top ten.

It proved another difficult session for Sebastien Loeb Racing after their newly-replaced Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR pairing could only manage 22nd (Medhi Bennani) and 23rd (Rob Huff).

Equally championship leader Yvan Muller struggled to 15th and his team-mate Thed Bjork – who will start the opening race from the back after a penalty for an engine change – was just 17th.

Qualifying for the opening race of the weekend in Slovakia is scheduled to get underway at 16:55 BST.

Session results

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	68	Yann EHRLACHER		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	11	2:11.350	0.000
2	74	Pepe ORIOLA		Team Oscaro by Campos Racing	CUPRA TCR	12	2:11.390	0.040
3	69	Jean-Karl VERNAY		Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team	Audi RS3 LMS	10	2:11.399	0.049
4	86	Esteban GUERRIERI		ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	11	2:11.416	0.066
5	7	Aurélien COMTE		DG Sport Compétition	Peugeot 308 TCR	11	2:11.431	0.081
6	88	Fabrizio GIOVANARDI		Team Mulsanne	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	11	2:11.453	0.103
7	21	Aurélien PANIS		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS	11	2:11.513	0.163
8	30	Gabriele TARQUINI		BRC Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	9	2:11.545	0.195
9	23	Nathanaël BERTHON		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS	10	2:11.555	0.205
10	27	John FILIPPI		Team Oscaro by Campos Racing	CUPRA TCR	11	2:11.584	0.234
11	22	Frédéric VERVISCH		Audi Sport Team Comtoyou	Audi RS3 LMS	11	2:11.645	0.295
12	20	Denis DUPONT		Comtoyou Racing	Audi RS3 LMS	10	2:11.646	0.296
13	5	Norbert MICHELISZ		BRC Racing Team	Hyundai i30 N TCR	9	2:11.647	0.297
14	70	Mat’o HOMOLA		DG Sport Compétition	Peugeot 308 TCR	11	2:11.760	0.410
15	48	Yvan MULLER		YMR	Hyundai i30 N TCR	9	2:11.782	0.432
16	63	Benjamin LESSENNES		Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	10	2:11.850	0.500
17	11	Thed BJÖRK		YMR	Hyundai i30 N TCR	10	2:12.043	0.693
18	44	Petr FULÍN		Fullin Race Academy	CUPRA TCR	10	2:12.368	1.018
19	9	Tom CORONEL		Boutsen Ginion Racing	Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR	10	2:12.404	1.054
20	52	Gordon SHEDDEN		Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team	Audi RS3 LMS	10	2:12.479	1.129
21	66	Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ		Zengő Motorsport	CUPRA TCR	11	2:12.699	1.349
22	25	Mehdi BENNANI		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	10	2:12.766	1.416
23	12	Rob HUFF		Sébastien Loeb Racing	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	9	2:12.776	1.426
24	8	Norbert NAGY		Zengő Motorsport	CUPRA TCR	11	2:13.006	1.656
25	17	Andrej STUDENIČ		Brutal Fish Racing	Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR	12	2:13.364	2.014
26	31	Kevin CECCON		Team Mulsanne	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	2	No time	N/A